Pennsylvania and North Carolina—two states that are key in President Donald Trump’s chances of re-election—will have extended mail-in ballot deadlines after a Democratic Party victory in the Supreme Court. The court on Wednesday ruled that extended deadlines for receiving mail-in ballots in next Tuesday’s election in Pennsylvania and North Carolina would be permitted. For Pennsylvania, the court left intact rules that officials will be allowed to receive ballots cast by Election Day and received within three days; in North Carolina, the state elections board will have a grace period of nine days. The Republican Party had opposed the extensions, and three conservative justices—Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito Jr. and Neil Gorsuch—objected. Trump said Wednesday that he’s depending on courts to keep states from counting ballots received after Election Day, even if they were sent before by a postal service crippled by Trump administration policies.
